Adas Israel Congregation Chronicle Vol
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AdaS Israel CongregaTion Chronicle VOl. 72, No. 9 April 2010 nisan–Iyar 5770 garden of the righteous and Yom HaShoah, april 11 Adas Israel will mark Yom HaShoah with our Garden of the Righ- TeMfA RaBlD teous Ceremony on Sunday, April 11, beginning at 10:30 am. This is Dover Emet the 19th year we will use our memory as a vehicle to honor a non- Speaking the Truth Jew who saved Jewish lives and who put into practice significant Rabbi Gil Steinlauf moral and religious values, which we teach and must both emulate and perpetuate. The greaTest Chal- This year we honor the memory of Hiram (Harry) Bingham IV. lenge To The JewiSh Some of Mr. Bingham’s children will be here to help honor their fa- CommuniTy ToDay ther with a plaque in our Garden of the Righteous. Participating in Harry Bingham On March 7, I spoke on a panel at continued on page 5 the Partnership for Jewish Life and Kay Memorial lecture Learning’s “Routes” conference on Celebrating Lag B’Omer “The Greatest Challenge Facing to Feature David This year Lag B’Omer falls on Sunday, May the Jewish Community Today.” Makovsky and JTS 2, but even before the second seder is Sitting on the panel with me were over—while we’re still at the table—we Dr. James Hyman, chief executive Chancellor arnold eisen start to count the days until Shavuot. Be- officer for the Partnership for Jew- You are cordially invited to at- fore the matzah crumbs have been swept ish Life and Learning; Ron Halber tend the upcoming abraham away, we begin Sefirat HaOmer, the count- of the Jewish Community Relations and Minnie Kay Memorial ing of the omer. Council of Greater Washington; lecture at Adas Israel, spon- In Temple times, the Sefirah connected Esther Safran Foer, director of 6th sored by the Jewish Theologi- the seven weeks between the Passover and I Historic Synagogue; William cal Seminary, on Wednesday, barley harvest with the wheat harvest of Shavuot. It was a time of anxiety mixed Darrow, vice president for public May 12, at 7:30 pm. David Makovsky with hope: Would the crop ripen? Would policy and director of the Washing- This important and the harvest be fruitful? ton office of the Jewish Federations thought-provoking program of North America; and Nathan Starting with the second day of Pass- features David Makovsky, over, our ancestors brought sheaves of Diament, director of public policy Ziegler Distinguished Fellow grain to the Temple in Jerusalem. These for the Union of Orthodox Jew- and director of the Project sheaves (called omer—literally, a “mea- continued on page 2 on the Middle East Peace sure”), were brought every day for 49 days Process at the Washing- and placed on the altar as an offering to Cancellor Eisen See Page 3 for the ton Institute for Near East continued on page 4 Passover Schedule continued on page 7 Clergy Corner Life Cycle Page 2 Page 8 YP@AI Page 16 Celebrating Our 140th Year Holidays Schools Page 3 Page 12 Contributions the ChroniCle is supported in Page 17 Part bY the ethel and nat PopiCk Men’s Club Lifelong Learning Page 6 Page 14 Tikkun Olam endOwment Fund Page 20 Sisterhood Youth Page 7 Page 15 February 2010 • ChroniCle • 3 TeMfA RaBlD Clergy Corner Dover Emet Speaking the Truth Rabbi Gil Steinlauf DOver emet continued from page 1 ish Congregations of America. Each of us was greatest challenge are in redefining the nature of a synagogue asked to present what we believe is the greatest communities, and in our evolving relationship to Halakhah and challenge, and to present ways to deal with Jewish tradition to become more welcoming of Jews as individu- that challenge. The comments and questions als. First, community: I will use Adas Israel as a perfect example were fascinating and led to much discussion in of redefinitions. Adas Israel, for years now, has hosted multiple the halls after the presentation. Below are my minyanim. If you trace the relationship between the minyanim Rabbi Gil Steinlauf remarks. and shul leadership, you see the movement toward postmodern The greatest challenge facing the Jewish people today is values develop within the synagogue. At first, when the Ha- postmodernism. Our postmodern era is defined by a question- vurah and the Traditional Egalitarian Minyan came on the scene, ing and movement away from conventional and traditional they were tolerated at best. But now we have begun redefin- systems of thinking and institutions—including synagogues, ing the synagogue as a community that welcomes, celebrates, Jewish organizations, Israel advocacy, and Judaism itself. At the and is defined by multiple minyanim, multiple points of entry, core of postmodernism is a questioning of the very nature of multiple experiences of Yiddishkeit. In fact, we have actually Truth itself. While these questions may seem philosophical and been expanding the pluralist identity and have been increas- academic, they are at the very heart and worldview of a new ing the number of services and community experiences that generation of Jews who ushered in an era defined by the pri- are tailored to particular subcommunities. We need to create macy of the individual and of extreme mistrust of all hierarchies communities where members can choose for themselves—in and systems of authority very postmodern fashion—Jewish experiences within their The challenges of postmodernity are heightened by the rise own synagogue that are tailored to their phase of life and val- of the Internet and the total democratization of knowledge ues. Synagogues must also reach out to foster, encourage, and and information. The message of the Internet age is that not partner—rather than compete—with independent minyanim only is knowledge equally accessible to everyone, but that that have sprung up, JCCs, Federation, 6th and I, etc. But in all we can literally point and click on the information we want to of these various subgroups and minyanim that should define learn, the ideas we want to value, the causes we stand for, the Jewish communal life, the key word must be community. What very ideals and identities we live by. We all recognize the many a synagogue can provide that no other Jewish institution can wonderful blessings that can come from a society that is will- is the experience of a Kehillah—the notion of different people, ing to challenge systems that no longer work, that is willing to different generations coming together. So synagogues must recognize the rights of every individual to knowledge and to lead the way in modeling a community with all of these mul- self-fulfillment. But we must find a way to engage a whole new tiple points of entry. Just as synagogues can bring community generation to promote the value of “showing up” at a synagogue together, despite our different ages and values, to celebrate at and creating lifelong, lasting commitments to intergenerational holidays and programs, so, too, must we all self-define as one communities. community, with many faces. Postmodernism unconsciously liberates younger Jews today A second area of response to postmodernity is in the evolu- to question and to reject any and all familial, communal, or reli- tion of Jewish practice itself within the synagogue to create a gious allegiances in favor of causes that are more personally rel- warmer and more welcoming experience of Judaism. So, for evant. Recent findings by the Pew Research Center report a rise example, we have just broken with conventional Conservative in pick-and-choose religious identities and affiliations, not just practice and have created a new policy that allows for potluck by Jews, but by Americans in general. meals to happen within the synagogue building—to allow peo- Postmodernism is a great challenge to Jews, Judaism, and ple to bring in dairy or pareve food, cooked even in their non- Jewish communities today, but it is not a catastrophe. Our kosher kitchens, into designated areas in the shul. Synagogues synagogues and institutions are still structured on 20th-century should explore ways create a space in the congregation where models of one-size-fits-all movements and top-down authority people can come together in small groups and create a haimish structures that are becoming totally irrelevant for a new genera- experience for themselves—not directed or dictated by an insti- tion of Jews. We have to fundamentally change what we mean tution, but rather to have moments like a Shabbat meal made by by Jewish institutions and Jewish living if we are to adapt to this Jews for Jews. postmodern world. A critical area of necessary evolution is with respect to in- Two areas where we as a community can respond to the terfaith families. We need to welcome and engage interfaith continued on page 3 2 • ChroniCle • april 2010 ‘100 Voices—a Journey home’ Synagogue Closings Last summer, I joined approximately 100 Passover Erev Yom Tov, Sunday, April 4: other cantors, in addition to some of our Schools/Offices Close at 3:30 pm congregants, on a mission to Poland. Dur- Passover 7 & 8, Mon. & Tues., April 5 & 6: ing this trip, in conjunction with the 18th Schools/Offices Closed Jewish Culture Festival, we made history by holding religious services at the Tem- pel Synagogue in Krakow, which had not happened since World War II. DOver emet continued from page 2 We also davened a weekday morning couples and families. With an intermarriage rate of well over 52 Hazzan Weber service between the barracks at Auschwitz percent and climbing, the face of the Jewish community forever and participated in memorial services at Birkenau, in addition more includes non-Jews.